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In the final chapters, Wilentz describes the series of events leading to the first shots of the Civil War. One of the main political debates explained in the text is that between Lincoln and Douglas during the 1858 Senate elections in Illinois. Douglas arose victorious in the polls, but Lincoln definitely won all facets other than the election. He gained great popularity for his strong morals concerning the issue of slavery.
A main topic of blog posts in earlier weeks has been the somewhat futile effects of the many compromises made in the years leading up to the Civil War. CHMASONE’s post on November 20 explains this point by stating that political negotiations such as the Compromise of 1850 “all failed and only delayed the unavoidable conflict.” I believe this same principle was the main difference in Douglas’ and Lincoln’s platforms and ultimately, led to Douglas’ demise and Lincoln’s success in politics. Like many before him, Douglas constantly was on the fence concerning the issue of slavery. He supported popular sovereignty, which in itself can be seen as a cop-out because instead of dealing with an issue as a nation, it allowed particular sects to decide for themselves, thus widening the gap between northern and southern thought. Senator Douglas also went back and forth with his backing of the Dred Scott case, showing his lack of certainty in the area. On the other hand, Lincoln used a strong and assertive moral high ground stance throughout the debates. He condemned “the monstrous injustice of slavery itself” (414). Although he knew he would receive disapproval from southerners nationally, he stood by his morals no matter the opposition. I believe Lincoln’s directness in this situation led to heightened public interest nation-wide, and eventually led to his presidency in 1860.
As Lincoln moved on to the presidential election of 1860, he kept his beliefs of stopping the spread of slavery. Wilentz describes Lincoln as a politician during this time and how he had to express his views, but also attract votes from southern states. TASIMMONS’ blog post on December 1st draws a parallel to this point and states that Lincoln had to “remain moderate” in order to win the presidential race. I agree with this point to an extent. Lincoln definitely had to tone down some of his views in the midst of the election, but Lincoln had always been considered a moderate republican. His views did not change from the debates in 1858 to the election of 1860. I think people often make the mistake of thinking Lincoln was quite radical with his beliefs concerning slavery but in reality, his main goal was to only stop slavery’s spread and then to eventually eradicate it. Lincoln was very against the institution of slavery based on his strong morals, but his plan to stop it was actually quite moderate all along.